We should fund science

Our lineup so far for this year’s Shambles Forest at Latitude. Reckon it’s shaping up to be a mighty fine weekend! Get your tickets at latitudefestival.com

Live in just a few minutes: me on the Universe’s 100th birthday, and on the mysterious Little Red Dots. Join us online @greshamcollege.bsky.social www.youtube.com/live/9CaWqYf...

This is a great visual I need to update my lecture slide with! look at our funny little planet 🌍

I need an email signature right now that just says: "I am having difficulty making decisions right now if you are only asking out of politeness then please make a choice and just tell me what to do and it will get done"

✨ Applications for the 2026 International Astronomical Youth Camp are now open! ✨🚀 Join us in Spain for the 60th lAYC celebration and experience an unforgettable total solar eclipse! 🌘 Head to our First Info page via the link in our bio to apply! Clear skies 🌌 🔭🎢 #EduSky #scicomm #astroedu

8% acceptance rate is utterly brutal for so many of the community but there are only so many minutes in a year. 525600 moments to capture the wonder of our universe. Congratulations to all those with time for their science &use it with the knowledge that you serve the whole community 🖤 #JWSTcycle5

Beautiful new direct imaging of the exoplanet Eps Ind Ab with the #JWST MIRI coronagraphs by Elisabeth Matthews of @mpi-astro.bsky.social et al - confirming previous detection of ammonia in its atmosphere, and suggesting the presence of water ice clouds. Great work! 🔭 arxiv.org/abs/2603.08780

We are also massive gossips and can’t keep embargo secrets very well at all. Especially astronomers! #science #astronomy

See this full thread for all the ways we are showing how bad the STFC cuts to science will be With ways you can help us get the word out and just say no to cutting a generation of science and the foundation of future projects #science🧪 #astronomy🔭

Want to know some of the amazing things we are learning about silicates check out these two amazing researchers! #exoplanets

So excited to be joining the @cosmicshambles.com crew @latitudefestival.bsky.social this year! We will be talking all things #exoplanets so grab a ticket and join in the Shambles fun!

A new @exocast.bsky.social episode is here! yes we are back with some great shows coming your way in 2026 #astronomy🔭 #science #podcast

STScI is opening its doors for a celebration of creativity at the intersection of art, science, and community on May 6 at 6 p.m.! The evening will feature an art exhibit of works by local artists inspired by space and astronomy. More information: https://www.facebook.com/share/17HoRP1ZxM/

Starting this Friday, four separate #JWST programmes will be exploring physical processes in Jupiter's atmosphere and ionosphere. We're asking amateur astronomers to help provide context imaging over the next few weeks to understand how the atmosphere is changing with time. #planetaryscience

Listeners to Radio 4’s Inside Science today get an essay from me in defence of astronomy as pure research. Please listen in and let me know what you think. Show starts 4.30pm GMT here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...

Early-career researchers are rightly worried about the road ahead, and have drafted an open letter to UKRI & #STFC, calling for a "strategic correction" to avoid irreversible loss of curiosity-driven UK research - an essential part of future discoveries, tech, & growth. bsky.app/profile/si-w...

Just won with my old trivia team and got three shout outs from the awesome host. It feels good to be back. #OceanBoat

I've updated my post on the funding crisis heading for British astronomy: docs.google.com/document/d/1.... UKRI made clear that astro and particle physics are being subject to unique cuts due to rising costs elsewhere. This looks like a deliberate decision not to fund fundamental physics. 🔭 🧪

Question: Do I re-read the first two Percy Jackson’s to cleanse myself of the atrocious decisions made in the Disney+ series, or keep going through discworld for the millionth time? I guess I could also read something new but I have a cold and need comfort reading right now.

STScI has released the timeline for the #JWST Cycle 6 Call for Proposals. The proposal deadline is September 30, 2026. Read more: ow.ly/U5vL50Y6AOr

This is devastating. The skills that astronomers learn are invaluable to society, many going into industry, the civil service, science communication, … such drastic cuts will have terrible consequences in the long run.

Explore the cosmos at the RWA 🪐🚀 We've partnered with the Royal West of England Academy to today launch a new exhibition 'Cosmos: the art of observing Space', which explores the documentation of celestial mechanics by artists deeply inspired by observations of space. ⤵️

A great paper examining the hot Jupiter HAT-P-30b, lead by final-year PhD student Alastair Claringbold (@exoarcturus.bsky.social), as a part of the BOWIE ALIGN program. The program aims to understand how migration history impacts atmosphere composition. #exoplanets www.arxiv.org/abs/2601.13104

A reminder that I and a bunch of awesome people are doing stand-up about science in Kings Cross on the 28th. This will be excellent. Tickets here: wegottickets.com/event/684234.

Excited to be heading to London on January 25th for a concert of sorts at King's Place Theatre near Kings Cross for "Bach the Universe and Everything" Where I will be talking about exoplanets and their exotic clouds 🪐🌦️ interspersed with music from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment!

ICYMI: Over the winter holidays, my student's paper on KELT-9b was accepted: arxiv.org/abs/2512.19662! With the Hubble Space Telescope's STIS instrument, we find enormous escape of metal ions from the hottest hot Jupiter, KELT-9b! 🪐🔭💫

🚨 Important announcement 🚨 Are you a @royalastrosoc.bsky.social Fellow, science communicator, educator, student or member of a local astronomical society? We need your help! We'll be holding a one-day #RASreach event for Education and Outreach in Manchester on Friday 27 March. ⤵️

Read this message and in a rush have just taken all of the Christmas decorations down. That was a close one! would have been bad luck and they would have had to stay up til Feb 2nd otherwise 😬

Fully funded opportunity for bachelors and masters students to come work at MPIA in summer 2026!

Got a wonderful gift from a former postdoc today! A terrarium based on The forest moon of Endor complete with its own little Ewok & R2D2 😁 The tank was previously used on BBC The Sky at Night to demonstrate optical depth in a planetary atmosphere. A happy repurposing & joyful addition to my office

Doing some filming for a potential project this morning. I always get so nervous before filming things. The more prep for something there is the more nervous I become. Very much more comfortable with the hit and hope method. But nevertheless here we go!

As ever, we'll be doing a foodbank collection at Nine Lessons this year. The list of most urgently needed items are at cosmicshambles.com/ninelessons CC @robinince.bsky.social, @soozuk.bsky.social, @nataliehaynes.bsky.social, @seismatters.bsky.social, @profaliceroberts.bsky.social

Next Thursday night is the first night of Nine Lessons 2025. It's also when we will announce the secret project we've been working on for the last four years. Make sure you're in your seats by 7! www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/nin...

Work from @danvalentine.bsky.social !

🪐 The #ExoMars team at the University has welcomed the UK Space Agency’s renewed backing for the Rosalind Franklin rover mission, a flagship project that will see Europe’s first Mars rover launch in 2028. 🖱️ tinyurl.com/d3m5ysah @esa.int @ukspaceagency.bsky.social @abercompsci.bsky.social

Goes with their long proud tradition of running red lights

At the wonderful venue of the Balmoral ship docked in Bristol Quay to preset to the Bristol Science Cafe. A great team of volunteers on the ship and the science cafes lead Bob who has been running this for over 2 decades bring science to Bristolian life. #exoplanets #scicomm

This weekend we headed to London for the world premiere of @robertlaidlow.bsky.social’s #Exoplanet suite. The London Philharmonic Orchestra were on fine form bring the amazing worlds we study to life. So grateful to have been a tiny part of the journey. Check out Rob describing the piece 👇 #sciart

Check out this awesome talk by @danvalentine.bsky.social all about his research showing how the @esa.int Ariel mission could perform the most extraordinary phase curve survey to teach us all about #exoplanets #proudAdvisor #astronomy #science

In this video I explain how @stellarplanet.bsky.social and @climatebook.bsky.social research into these classes of planets inspired and informed some of the music. The concert premiere of "Exoplanets" is at 7.30pm on Saturday 29th November at the Royal Festival Hall in London - tickets here:

Holst's planets suite may have its famous "Jupiter" and "Neptune", but my new "Exoplanets" for @lporchestra.bsky.social has HOT Jupiters and SUB Neptunes 🪐🪐🪐 (Saturday 29th at 7.30pm!) youtu.be/kXi3TbD4_VA?...

CDT in Aerosol Science is welcoming applications for fully-funded PhD studentships as part of our 8th cohort to start in autumn 2026: www.aerosol-cdt.ac.uk/2026-projects/ Aerosol science is crucial to so many things, check out the linked project catalogue for studentships! #PhD #academicjobs

Had a fabulous week at Ringberg for the “Signal in the Noise“ workshop hosted by two brilliant ECRs in the #exoplanet field @eahrer.bsky.social & @lili-alderson.bsky.social. Loads of ideas on how to get the most out of #jwst data & many new collaborations formed across an eager cohort of scientists

We have snow in Ringberg! ❄️🏰❄️ the sky has fallen, wonderful rainout of the atmosphere followed by a clearing and lowered opacity.

Beautiful lessons in opacity from normal versus slant geometries from the plane as I left Abu Dhabi, some beautiful cloud formations over the Iranian mountains, and beautiful sunset over Romania

Had a great time @nyuad-oaa.bsky.social and an interesting time adventuring in the Abu Dhabi 🐪. Now time to head to Germany for the “signal in the noise” conference led by @lili-alderson.bsky.social and @eahrer.bsky.social held at Ringberg Castle 🏰

Londoners! Drink excellent wine and chat with me about space, next week: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cosmology-...

Given news of recent days and the way the entire landscape of broadcasting and production is going in the UK right now, we are even more excited to tell about what we've been up to. All will be revealed Dec 18 one night one of Nine Lessons. cosmicshambles.com/ninelessons

Got my foundation tutorial group this morning (we’re onto Mechanic and angular momentum) then down to the coach station to head to T4 for a flight to Abu Dhabi to give a talk @nyuad-oaa.bsky.social and chat about #exoplanet science for a few days! Exhausted thinking about it but excited as well 😎🤓